1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to supports, shelves and receptacles, but more particularly to a movable laundry sorter with a height-adjustable, downwardly foldable ironing board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of laundry sorters with and without hanging bars are on the market.
For example, on Apr. 7, 1925, a height-adjustable, screw-jack type ironing board received U.S. Pat. No. 1,532,973 for Sophia Adelson.
On Feb. 5, 1929, Ella M. Cushman received U.S. Pat. No. 1,700,924, for a stationary sewing cabinet with shelves, a hanging bar, and an upwardly foldable ironing board. However, when the board is unlatched, it can fall down and injure someone.
Much later, on Sep. 15, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,383 was issued to Melvin W. Potts for a wheeled rack for carrying athletic equipment. Although there are two bins and hanging bars, there is no ironing board attached thereto.
Richard J. Bernazzani received U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,973 on Jun. 6, 1978, for a nonwheeled, collapsible, outdoor, cooking range for use by the U.S. Army. Although it has some structure similar to the present invention, it is not used for the same purpose.
An upwardly foldable ironing board with an attached basket for supplies was the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,642 which issued to David Lehrman on Nov. 5, 1996. Again, when the board is unhooked, it can rotate quickly downward by gravity and hit the user.
On Feb. 2, 1999, Wen-Tsan Wang received U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,517 for a wheeled coat rack and cabinet.
Most recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,750 was granted to Steven M. Jensen on Apr. 11, 2000, for a modular utility stand and storage apparatus having a plurality of stacked components.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide sorting bins with overhead hanging bars and a safe, height-adjustable, downwardly foldable ironing board so as to make a complete laundry center, unlike the prior art ironing boards which fold upwardly and may injure someone when the board is disengaged for use. Because the collapsed ironing board of the present invention must be pulled up to be used, no one is injured when the ironing board is disengaged from its stored position.
The laundry center includes locking wheels for stability as well as movability when the unit is not being used for sorting, ironing and hanging clothes.
The laundry center permits the user to sort laundry in two, three of more bins that can be made of various materials, such as cloth, vinyl or the like. These bins or flexible sacks can be attached to the unit with plastic, wire or VELCRO(copyright) ties which can be easily removed to allow the user to reposition or replace a bin or sack.
The laundry center has bars over the sorting bins or sacks so that a user can hang clothing thereon, once washed and dried, either before or after ironing, all within the confines of the laundry center.
The collapsible ironing board folds down when not is use. When someone desires to press a piece of clothing, the ironing board is lifted and an arm, which is locked into place on an underside of the board, is rotated and clipped into place so as to support the board.
Various locking devices can be used to secure the arm into place once it is rotated to a desired position.
The height of the ironing board may be adjusted in one-inch increments by plastic connectors that attach the board to vertical posts of the laundry center. The board can be adjusted up or down by repositioning these plastic connectors over grooves spaced apart along the vertical posts of the laundry center.
Shelving and other attachments are secured to the vertical posts by the same plastic connectors. For example, one attachment, secured by a plastic connector, is a wire basket for storing an iron and other supplies, such as starch spray cans, so that they are within easy reach of a consumer who is using the attached ironing board.
Hooks for supporting and storing an independent ironing board may be provided, in addition to the attached ironing board, in an alternative embodiment.
In addition to the wire basket for storing the iron and supplies, the laundry center may include a hanging storage bag which has pocket compartments for miscellaneous laundry items, such as detergent, starch, a water sprinkler, etc. This storage bag may be placed on a side of the laundry center opposite to the side where the ironing board is located, if the wire basket is attached to the same side as the ironing board.
A shelf is arranged on top of the laundry center for storing large items out of the way of the user.
These features and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following brief description of the drawings and the subsequent detailed discussion of the invention.